Andy is a finishing department supervisor for a large custom coating operation. He is the kind of team member who won’t quit. If his department needs sixty hours of his time in a given week, he works seventy. His mental makeup is such that he can’t let someone else down, yet in spite of this personality trait, he can survive for months without an “attaboy”. It doesn’t matter how challenging the customer order is or how big the problem; Andy finds a way to get it done. At the same time, Andy’s boss Steve gives him a ton of latitude. Steve doesn’t criticize Andy’s results and doesn’t spend any time at all “pushing” Andy to do more.
Jerry also reports to Steve. Jerry worked for a leading finishing chemical company before going to work for Steve’s company. Jerry has a reputation worldwide for his finishing knowledge. In a word, Jerry is important, and nobody reminds the team of that more often than Jerry does. But, Jerry isn’t a go-getter. He loves to play around in the lab and sit at the conference table discussing finishing technology, but when it comes to using his broad experience and expertise to solve problems and add value on the shop floor, he struggles. Still, Jerry’s wisdom has great value to the company. Inconsistent with the freedom provided to Andy, Steve meets with Jerry every single morning to review what Jerry accomplished the day before and to set the agenda for the present day, thus ensuring that Jerry is focused on that which is important to the business.